Cutter assembly

ABSTRACT

The cutter assembly utilizes a rotor having a plurality of cutting edges thereon and a bed knife which are spaced so as to provide a precision fit for cutting of various materials such as paper fed between the same. The bed knife is mounted so as to be adjustable with respect to the rotor such that a zero tolerance can be maintained. An overriding conveyor is utilized to feed the material into the space between the rotor and bed knife. The cutting edges of the rotor are disposed in an angular relationship with respect to the bed knife so as to provide a slicing effect.

United States Patent 1 3,688,624 Covey 1 Sept. 5, 1972 s41 CUTTER ASSEMBLY 3,135,307 6/1964 Blanshine ..146/120 [72] Inventor: Gordon W Covey, 11 Glendale 1,525,025 2/1925 Dahl ..83/355 Road, Summit, Ni 0790] 2,776,711 1/1957 Bas ..83/355 X [22] Filed: Nov. 28, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 880,827

[52] US. Cl. ..83/596, 83/355, 83/700 [51] Int. Cl. ..B23d 25/00 [58] Field of Search ..83/355, 349, 700, 596, 591; 146/117-121; 144/230 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,515,377 11/1924 White ..83/349 X 2,598,933 6/1952 Nevin ..144/230 2,297,368 9/1942 Ripple et a1 ..83/355 X 2,690,777 10/ 1954 Korber et a1 ..146/119 X 2,814,345 11/1957 Repper ..83/355 2,821,253 1/1958 Hefielfinger et al. ....83/355 X Primary Examiner-James M. Meister Attorney-Kenyon & Kenyon Reilly Carr & Chapin [57] ABSTRACT The cutter assembly utilizes a rotor having a plurality of cutting edges thereon and a bed knife which are spaced so as to provide a precision fit for cutting of various materials such as paper fed between the same.

The bed knife is mounted so as to be adjustable with respect to the rotor such that a zero tolerance can be maintained. An overriding conveyor is utilized to feed the material into the space between the rotor and bed knife. The cutting edges of the rotor are disposed in an angular relationship with respect to the bed knife so as to provide a slicing effect.

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CUTTER ASSEMBLY This invention relates to a cutting assembly. More particularly, this invention relates to a cutting assembly for cutting materials such as paper, yarn, fabrics, rubber, food, synthetic fibers, glass fibers, flock and the like.

Heretofore, various types of cutting machines have been known for the cutting of materials into pieces. Generally, these machines have utilized cutting elements which have been mounted with respect to each other to provide an interference cut. However, because of this, the machines have not been able to cut very fine thickness of material such as yarns since the material has not been properly held for cutting action between the elements. Further, in the case of rotatable cutting elements, it becomes necessary to mount the rotatable elements in bearings which can be adjusted so as to provide for the interference fit. This, however, is time consuming and the bearings tend to wear'out at a faster rate. Also, the interference fit produces wear between the cutting elements such that these elements have to be replaced at frequent intervals of time.

It has further been known that in some instances the various cutting machines that have been used have not been self-contained or portable but instead have been generally of a fixed installation type. Further, these machines have required considerable maintenance as well as a relatively large stock of spare parts for replacement purposes.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a cutting assembly which can be used for long periods of time.

It is another object of the invention to provide for the cutting of materials of fine thickness.

It is another object of the invention to provide a cutting assembly which requires a minimum of maintenance and spare parts.

It is another object of this invention to provide for a precision cut in a cutting machine.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cutting machine for the cutting of yarns, especially man made yarns.

It is another object of the invention to provide a portable self-contained cutting assembly.

Briefly, the invention provides a cutting assembly which permits the cutting of materials over long periods of time. The assembly includes cutting elements which are spaced apart so as to provide a precision cut for materials which are passed therebetween. The elements in one embodiment are constructed as a bed knife which is mounted in a stationary position and a rotor which includes at least one sharp edge thereon which is disposed in angular relation to an edge of the bed knife and which rotates the sharp edge past the edge of the bed knife to achieve a slicing cutting effect. The cutting assembly is further constructed so that the bed knife is mounted in a manner to be adjustable with respect to the rotor such that the bed knife is maintained with a zero fit relative to the rotor. To this end, an adjusting means is provided to move the bed knife. This adjusting means can be actuated from within or without the cutting assembly.

In order to feed materials between the cutting elements, the cutting assembly cooperates with a suitable feed conveyor such that the materials to be out are fed directly to the cutting elements. The feed conveyor can be constructed in any suitable manner and can be suitably connected into a drive of the cutting assembly so as to be operated in synchronized relationship therewith. In addition, an overriding conveyor can be mounted over the feed conveyor so that the materials to be cut are compressed and/or crushed prior to entry between the cutting elements. This overriding conveyor can be constructed with various types of conveying surfaces so as to insure a smooth delivery of the material into the cutting elements. For example, the overriding conveyor can have a flexible belt which is smooth surfaced so as to prevent catching of fibers where fibrous material is to be cut or a roughened surface so as to insure a sufficient friction force, for example, where carbon paper and the like is to be cut. The overriding conveyor can be operated so as to automatically adjust to a sudden increase in thickness of material being conveyed to prevent jamming.

"In order to provide for the discharge of the cut material, a suitable chute is disposed below the cutting elements to receive the cut material. This chute can be utilized with a discharge conveyor so that the cut material is conveyed away from the'cutting assembly. This discharge conveyor can be constructed-integrally with the cutting assembly or can be constructed as a separate unit for attachment to the cutting'assembly. Also a fan suction can be provided to pull materials through such as flock type to preclude wrapping on feed rolls also to assure less spreading of materials. Also, the drive for the discharge conveyor can be tied into the drive for the cutting assembly in a similar manner as the feed conveyor.

In feeding the material between the cutting elements, it is noted that the material upon leaving the feed conveyor is carried between a roller of the overriding conveyor and a driven roller which is joumalled in the cutting assembly. The material then becomes compressed between these two rollers and is immediately directed between the cutting elements. After being cut, the material immediately drops into the chute located below the nip of the cutting elements for discharge.

The cutting assembly is provided with a suitable drive system which can be driven at variable speeds. This drive can be connected into the top compressing roller of the overriding conveyor via a suitable transmission so as to drive the overriding conveyor and rotor at predetermined speeds. The drive can also be connected into the feed conveyor via a suitable transmission so that the feed conveyor can be driven at a rate 1 proportional to the rate of the rotor cutting element. Also, a suitable transmission can be used in the drive to drive the discharge conveyor. As the compressing roller of the overriding conveyor can be moved vertically during operation, the transmission connected to this roller includes a means such as a double universal so that the top roller can be moved up and down. Likewise, the other pressure roller which is adjustable with respect to the cutting elements is also connected via a double universal which allows horizontal movement of the roller with respect to the cutting elements.

It is further noted that the various transmissions of the cutter assembly can be provided with suitable clutches so that the various moving systems can be operated independently of each other.

. the invention;

FIG. 4'illustrates a top view of the rotor and overriding conveyor shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 illustrates a cross sectional view of the cutting elements according to the invention; and

FIG.6 illustrates a connection between the drive and the feed conveyor and pressure rollers.

Referring to FIG. 1, the cutting assembly is provided with an integrated feed conveyor 11, discharge conveyor 12 and chute 13.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 5, the cutting assembly 10 is mounted on a suitable support, such as a table 9 which is portable as by wheels 8, and near one end thereof.

The cutting assembly 10 is provided with a pair of cutting elements such as a stationary bed knife 14 and rotatable rotor 15 which are mounted so as to provide a precision cut therebetween. The rotor 15 is constructed with a plurality of recesses 16 in the circumferential periphery thereof in each of which is disposed a cutting blade 17. Each blade 17 is secured by a suitable means, such as threaded bolts 18 into the respective recesses 16 of the rotor 15 so as to project slightly out of the recesses. In addition, the projecting portions of each blade 17 are provided with a sharp edge 19 which is disposed at an angle from approximately 1 to 3 with respect to the free cutting edge 20 of the bed knife 14 and the axis of the rotor 15 so as to provide a slicing effect on the material disposed between the cutting elements.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the rotor 15 is formed with an enlarged diameter portion 21 where the cutting blades 17 are disposed. In addition, the rotor 15 has a pair of stub shaft ends 22, 23 which are joumaled in suitable bearings 24, such as antifriction ball bearings, mounted on a frame 25 of the cutting assembly 10 in a rigid manner to preclude movement of the rotor during operation. To this end, the frame 25 is provided with a pair of upstanding mounting plates 26 which serve to support the bearings 24 thereon in fixed relation. In addition, each stub shaft end 22, 23 of the rotor 15 passes through a seal plate 27 which is slidably mounted within the mounting plates 28 fixed to the frame 25 inwardly of the plates 26 mounting the bearings 24. The seal plates 27, as shown, are constructed as rectangular plates having suitable grooves 29 on two opposite sides for sliding into and out of the mounting plates 28. Alternatively, the seal plates can be fonned as plastic rings and contoured so as to sealingly engage within the frame of the cutting assembly circumferentially. One stub shaft end 23 of the rotor 15 is elongated so as to project into a housing 30 in which a drive, for example, of conventional structure (not shown) is disposed and is provided with a slot 31 to key into a gear 32 of the drive. The drive to the rotor 15 can be made variable or constant as required. In this way, the rotor 15 is driven.

Referring to FIG. 5, the bed knife 14 is formed as an elongated bar of rectangular cross section with each of the four edges thereof being sharp so that the bed knife 14 can be oriented to utilize each of the four edge for cutting purposes. The bed knife 14 is secured so asto be movable with respect to the rotor cutting edges. To this end, the knife 14 is mounted within a shouldered recess 33 of a holder 34 and held in place by bolts 35. The holder 34 in turn is mounted on a mounting block 36 secured to the frame 25 of the cutting assembly 10 via elongated bolts 37 which are disposed in elongated slots (not shown) in the frame 25 so as to permit limited movement of the block 36 and bed knife 14 when required for adjustment purposes. The holder 34 is also secured to a mounting plate (not shown) at each end for purposes as described below. Further, at lest one adjusting means 38 cooperates with the holder 34 to effect adjustment of the holder 34. This adjusting means 38 includes an adjustment block 39 fixed to the block 36 via a spacer 40 and bolts 41 so as to be spaced from the holder 34, an adjusting screw 42 which is threadably mounted at one end in the adjustment block 39 and abuts the holder 34 at the opposite end, and a threaded screw 43 which is slidably mounted within the adjusting screw 42 and threadably engaged within the holder 34. The forward end of the adjusting screw 42 is rounded so as to contact the holder 34 while the intermediate portion has a raised knurled portion 44 which facilitates rotation of the adjusting screw 42 relative to the adjustment block 39. This knurled portion 44 is also provided with a micrometer scale which cooperates with a pointer 45 so that movements of the bed knife 14 can be visually measured. It is noted that this adjusting means eliminates any backlash.

In order to adjust the position of the bed knife 14, for example, to move the bed knife 14 towards the rotor 15, the threaded bolts 37 are loosened and the screw 43 of the adjusting means 38 is rotated so as to move out of the holder 34. Next, the knurled portion 44 of the adjusting screw 42 is rotated so that the adjusting screw 42 is threaded out of the adjusting block 39 towards the bed knife holder 34 so as to push the holder 34 towards the rotor 15. When the holder 34 has come into the desired position (e.g. as measured by the micrometer of the knurled portion 44), rotation of the adjusting screw 42 is stopped. The threaded screw 43 is then tightened into the holder 34 so as to secure the holder 34 in position against the rounded end of the adjusting screw 42. The bolts 37 are then tightened. In order to move the bed knife 14 away from the rotor 15, a reverse operation is carried out.

It is noted that the adjusting means can be of any suitable construction, for example, an adjusting means which is manipulated from outside the confines of the cutting assembly as by a hand wheel can be utilized to move the bed knife 14.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the cutting assembly 10 is further provided with a cover 46 which is hinged to the frame 25 of the assembly 10. This cover 46 is sized to be mounted over the rotor 15 so as to contain the material being out within the cutting assembly 10. To this end, a suitable cover lock 47 is mounted on the frame 25 of the cutting assembly 10 to secure the cover 46 in place. This cover lock 47 is of any suitable construction so as to be readily opened to provide access to the rotor 15 and closed. In addition, the cover 46 cooperates with the mounting plates 28 of the frame 25 so as to contain the seal plates 27 about the rotor 15 within the cutting assembly 10.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the cutting assembly is also provided with a bottom pressure roller 48 having a smooth hard surface which is joumaled by stub shaft ends 49 in the bearings (not shown) which are adjustably mounted on the mounting plate secured to the holder 34 so that the roller 48 and bed knife 14 can be moved as a unit. In addition, one stub shaft end of the bottom roller 48 is connected into the main drive of the cutting assembly 10 via a universal joint (not shown) which accommodates horizontal movement of the bottom roller 48 with respect to the rotor 15. The bearings which mount the stub shaft ends of the bottom roller 48 are further disposed in mounting blocks (not shown) mounted within elongated slots of the frame 25 so as to be moved in a horizontal direction. The mounting blocks are fixed in place by any suitable means such as bolts (not shown).

The cutting assembly 10 further cooperates with an overriding conveyor 50 so that the material conveyed on the feed conveyor 1 1 is compressed before being cut by the cutting elements 14, 15. The overriding conveyor 50 includes a top pressure roller 51 which further cooperates with the bottom pressure roller 48 to form a nip for crushing the material and for feeding the material between the cutting elements 14, 15. This top pressure roller 51 has a knurled or smooth surface depending upon the material being processed as well as a pair of stub shaft ends 52 each of which is joumaled in a suitable bearing 53 secured within a mounting block 54. Each mounting block 54 is provided with grooves 55 on two opposite sides which provide slideways for pairs of guide rollers 56 fixed by mounted on the frame 25 of the cutting assembly 10. The guide rollers 56 permit vertical movement of the blocks 54 with respect to the frame 25 so that the position of the top pressure roller 51 can be adjusted vertically with respect to the bottom pressure roller 48. This permits the size of the nip between the top and bottom rollers to be adjusted to the material to be cut.

Referring to FIG. 4, the top roller 51 is connected via one stub shaft end 52 and a universal joint 57 into the main drive within the housing 30. The universal joint 57 permits the top roller 51 to be moved in a vertical plane without interferring with the drive connection.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the overriding conveyor 50 also includes an endless conveyor belt 58 which is laid over the top pressure roller 51 so as to be driven thereby as well as a second roller 59 as is known at the opposite end of the conveyor 50. The conveyor 50 is further provided with a tensioning device 60 which serves to adjust the tension in the belt 58 as is known. Both the rollers 51, 59 of the conveyor 50 are mounted in guide frames 61 disposed along the sides of the conveyor 50 which frames 61 have elongated blocks 62 connected thereto at intermediate points. Each of these blocks 62 has a guideway 63 which slidably receives a mounting pin 64 which is secured to a depending bracket 65 of a beam 66. Each of these beams 66 are cantilevered from the frame 25 and secured thereto by mounting brackets 67. The beams 66 are adjustable with respect to the mounting brackets 67 so that the conveyor 50 can be angularly adjusted with respect to the cutting elements and feed conveyor 11. In a similar manner, the mounting pins 64 can also be fixed within the guideways 63 in an adjustable manner to permit angular adjustment of the conveyor 50. In this way, the overriding conveyor 50 can be adjusted with respect to the material being fed into the cutting assembly 10.

It is to be noted that the material of the belt 58 of the overriding conveyor 50 can be of any suitable type, for example, where carbon paper and similar materials are being conveyed, the belt 58 can be provided with a roughened surface so as to provide a sufficient friction force to forward the material into the pressure roller nip. Alternatively, where material such as plastic yarns are being conveyed, the belt can be provided with a smooth surface so that tangling of the yarns in the conveyor 50 is avoided.

Referring to FIG. 3, in order to be able to compress materials between the top and bottom rollers 48, 51, the top roller 51 is urged towards the bottom roller 48. To this end, a pair of air cylinders 68 are mounted on the frame 25 of the cutting assembly 10 and are suitably connected by air hoses 60 or lines to a source of air. Each air cylinder 68 is mounted on a suitable mounting block 70 on the frame 25 and is provided with a piston (not shown) which is slidably mounted within the mounting block 70. In addition, each piston has an internal bore at the end which receives a threaded screw 71 therein. Each screw 71 has a head 72 which abuts against the mounting block 54 for the top pressure roller 51 such that upon threading of the screw into and out of the piston, the position of the mounting blocks 54 can be changed.

In operation, the mounting blocks 54 for the top roller 51 are freely mounted between the guide rollers 55 so that the top pressure roller normally rests in a lowermost position against the bottom roller 48 or slightly spaced therefrom depending upon the lower limit of movement allowed by the frame 25. However,

as the material isbeing processed between the rollers, the thickness of the material would cause the top roller 51 to move upwardly. In this case, the screw heads 72 secured to the air cylinders 68 would abut against the blocks 54 so as to limit the upward movement of the top roller 51. The material then becomes compressed between the rollers 48, 51.

It is to be noted that should there be an unusual thickness of material passing through the nip defined by the top and bottom rollers 48, 51 that the drive of the cutting assembly is provided with an overriding clutch (not shown) which cooperates with a valve regulator for the air pressure to maintain the clutch plates in position such that the top roller can move under an overload condition upwardly to compensate for such. The overload clutch would permit the top roller to return to the original position for normal operation thereafter.

Referring to FIG. 1, the feed conveyor 11 is constructed in any suitable fashion, for example, the feed conveyor 10 is provided with an endless belt or apron 73 which is driven over a pair of rollers 74, so as to feed material from one end towards the cutting assembly 10. Referring to FIG. 6, the forward roller 74 is also provided with a cam wheel 76 on an exposed end which cam wheel carries a projecting pin 77 in offset relation which keys into a slot 78 of a slotted cam 79 projecting from the housing 30 and connected into the main drive of the cutting assembly 10. In this way, upon actuation of the main drive, the slotted cam 79 will rotate and will cause rotation of the pin 77 and cam wheel 76 on the roller 74 of the feed conveyor 10. The speed of the feed conveyor is thus tied into the speed of the cutting assembly so as to provide for smooth operation. Further, this connection or dogging joint provides for rapid connection and disconnection between the feed conveyor 11 and cutting assembly 10.

The feed conveyor can further be mounted in a portable manner so as to be moved towards or away from the cutting assembly 10 independently thereof. To this end, the feed conveyor is provided with a plurality of legs 80 which are mounted on suitable rollers or casters 81 for transportation purposes. Also, the sidewalls of the feed conveyor 11 can be provided with suitable upstanding walls 82 so that the material being conveyed is contained substantially in the feed conveyor. Also, one or more roller supports 83 can be provided on the table 9 to aid in the support of the feed conveyor 11 thereon.

' Referring to FIG. 5, the feed conveyor 10 is also provided at the forward end with a plate 84 which is resiliently mounted as by a spring 85 to provide a continuous surface between the endless apron 73 on the forward roller 74 and the bottom roll 48 of the cutting assembly 10. This spring mounted plate 84 can be adjusted with respect to the bottom roll 48 so as to prevent the .material being processed from dropping down between the conveyor apron 73 and the bottom roller 48.

Additionally, the feed conveyor 10 is disposed with respect to the overriding conveyor 50 such that the top pressure roller 51 is disposed past the end of the conveyor apron 73 and in a slightly angular position with respect to the bottom roller 48. In this way, the material being fed from the apron 73 across the spring mounted plate 84 is moved in a slightly downward direction into the nip between the top and bottom pressure rollers 48, 51. This downward direction is such that the material will pass substantially immediately into the nip formed between the rotor and bed knife 14 so as to be cut thereby. It is to be noted that the space between the feed conveyor 10, the top and bottom pressure rollers 48, 51 and the cutting elements 14, 15 is exaggerated for purposes of illustration only. The actual space between the nip formed by the pressure rollers 48, 51 and the nip formed by the cutting elements 14, 15 would be approximately 1 1% inches.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the chute 13 for conveying cut material away from the cutting elements 14, 15 is connected to the frame of the cutting assembly 10. The chute 13 has an open end below the rotor 15 and bed knife 14 to receive the cut material and a floor 86 which opens to the discharge conveyor 12. This chute 13 can be of any suitable cross section as well as of any suitable material.

The discharge conveyor 12 is constructed in any suitable fashion with an endless belt 87 disposed over a pair of rollers 88, 89 which can be adjustable mounted with respect to each other. The endless belt 87 is disposed so as to receive the material discharged from the chute 13. In addition, the forwardly disposed roller 89 of the discharge conveyor 12 is mounted in a pair of elongated arms 90 which are pivotally mounted upon a frame 91 secured to the table 9 supporting the cutting assembly. The rearwardly disposed roller 88 is journalled in the frame 91. Also, a shaft 92 is fixed to at least one of the arms 90 and extends out of the frame 91. A handle 93 is fixedly secured to the shaft 92 and projects upwardly from the conveyor 12. A pair of stops 94 are also mounted on the frame 91 so as to prevent pivoting of the elongated arms 90 past a horizontal plane while the frame 91 serves to act as a stop 95 to prevent pivoting of the arms 90 in the opposite direction into the cutting assembly 10. For example, the frame 91 permits the handle 93 to pivot the elongated arms 90 from a horizontal position into an angular position through an arc of about The angular position of the discharge conveyor 12 can thus be adjusted so as to feed the cut material to any suitable level desired for discharge purposes.

Alternatively, the discharge conveyor can be mounted as a separate unit from the cutting assembly 10. For example, the discharge conveyor can be of any suitable conventional construction so as to have one end moved under the chute 13 of the cutting assembly 10 to receive material therefrom and to transport material from that end to another end which can be spaced at any suitable height with respect to the first end of the discharge conveyor. Should such a discharge conveyor direct the material in an upward direction for discharge purposes, the conveyor belt would be adapted to convey the material in this manner. For ex ample, the conveyor belt would be provided with suitable pusher for moving the material upwardly.

Referring to FIG. 1, in operation, the material 96 to be cut is first placed upon the apron 73 of the feed conveyor l1 and conveyed towards the cutting assembly 10. As the material advances, the material comes under the overriding conveyor 50 and begins to compress between the respective aprons 58, 73 of the overriding conveyor 50 and feed conveyor 11. Thereafter, the compressed material 96 leaves the conveyor apron 73 of the feed conveyor and becomes disposed between the spring mounted plates 84 of the conveyor 11 and the overriding conveyor 50. Immediately thereafter, the material is forced between the top and bottom pressure rollers 51, 48 and is further compressed and crushed to a predetermined thickness 97. At the same time, any bulk foreign body which may exist in the material is crushed by the pressure generated by the top and bottom pressure rollers 51, 48. Immediately after this, the compressed material 97 (FIG. 5) is fed by the pressure rollers 48, 51 into the nip between the bed knife 14 and rotor 15. As the rotor 15 is rotating at this time, the sharp edges 19 formed by the blades 17 mounted in the rotor 15 cooperate with the edge 20 of the bed knife 14 to slice the material 97 into pieces 98. The sliced pieces 98 then drop through the frame 25 of the cutting assembly 10 into the chute 13 and directed onto the discharge conveyor 12. The cut pieces are then moved by the discharge conveyor 12 to a disposal point.

It is noted that various types of materials can be cut by the cutting assembly of the invention. For example,

manmade yarns of relatively thin diameter can be effectively and efficiently cut into short lengths. Also, materials such as paper can be shreaded into any suitable sizes for disposal purposes or for any other purposes. Rubber with no heat, foods such as dough.

The discharge conveyor 13 includes a motor 100 for driving the belt 87. This motor 100 is operatively connected, as by an electrical line 101 plugged into the main drive of the machine housed within the console 99 (FIG. 2). Also, the frame 91 of the conveyor 13 is connected to the frame 102 of the machine, as by bolts 103. In this way, the discharge conveyor 13 can be readily detached from the cutting machine.

It is noted that the feed conveyor utilized with this invention can use a molded feed apron since such would prevent jamming of the cutting assembly by fiber type material. In addition, the endless belt arrangement permits doctoring of the apron to the pressure feed rollers 48, 51 as is known.

Also, because of the adjustable mounting arrangement of the top pressure roller 51, this roller 51 can be changed to suit the particular material being processed.

It is further noted that the bed knife is made of any suitable. hard material such as carbide steel and is mounted so as to be easily replaced upon wearing out of the cutting edges thereon. As noted above, the insert is made with four edges which are sharpened so as to provide four cutting edges, each of which can be oriented for cutting purposes as the others wear out.

It is further noted that the bed knife and rotor can be mounted on the frame of the cutting assembly in a manner to be rigidly tied together so as to provide for increased precision. In addition, where the bed knife is of substantial width, a number of adjusting means can be used to adjust the bed knife into an angular position with respect to the rotor. In this case, the tolerance of the adjustment would be about one one-thousandth of an inch.

It is noted that the invention provides for a precision out rather than an interference cut. The use of this precision cut allows the cutting of fine yarns and thicknesses of material which is not otherwise obtainable by interference cutting machines. In addition, the bearings which are used for setting up the precision cut need not be replaced since the amount of wear on the cutting elements is substantially reduced by the use of the precision cut. Further, the precision cut is precisely obtained by the cutting assembly of the invention.

The spacing between the nip of the top and bottom pressure rollers at the center line and the cutting edge of the bed knife is made as small as possible, for example, 1 55 inches. The smaller the dimension the better the control of the material being processed since the material can be better held in place. Also, the plane of the centerline of the rotor can be adjusted relative to the plane of the top surface of the bed knife or vice versa, for example, one-eighth inch, so as to obtain cutting effects on different materials such as polyester. Generally, for many purposes the rotor centerline is five-eighth inches above the bed knife plane. Also, to facilitate the holding of the material a doctor plate can be mounted on the bed knife holder to further guide the fed material over the bed knife. It is also noted that the top and bottom pressure rollers can be easily removed so that the bed knife insert can be changed by hand.

With respect to the main drive of the cutting assembly, it is noted that such is a conventional drive. Further, the drive uses suitable gearing and variable speed transmissions to tie in the speeds of the pressure rollers 48, 51 and the rotor 15. Also, similar transmissions are used to synchronize the speed of the feed conveyor to the rotor speed for the material being processed. Thus, the same drive can be used to drive the overriding conveyor, rotor, pressure rollers, feed conveyor and discharge conveyor in synchronism.

The controls for cutting machine is located within a suitable console 99 (FIG. 1) which is provided with any suitable indicators for indicating the on and off position of the various moving parts of the machine such as the rotor, the top and bottom pressure rollers, the feed conveyor system, and the discharge conveyor. In addition, the controls can be provided with suitable switches and mechanisms to provide for an automatic raising of the overriding conveyor and top roller with respect to the bottom roller so as to provide for access between the rolls or ro compensate for any jamming of a material between the rollers.

It is noted that the cutting assembly of the invention can be made of any suitable size so as to provide for the cutting of various types of materials at various rates. For example, the cutter can be of increased size so as to effect greater pressures on the material being processed between the pressure rollers. For example, the cutting assembly can be provided with a 10 inch knockdown roller for the top pressure roller which is provided with flutes deep enough to grab the material being processed over a smooth surface to prevent wrapping and tangling and which is pressed with respect to the bottom pressure roller so as to generate a pressure from 300 to 400 pounds per square inch on the material passing therebetween. In addition, the rotor cutting element can be. provided with two or four cutter blades and can be rotated at a speed of for example 400 revolutions per minute. In such a case, the feed conveyor can be operated through a variable speed motor so as to feed at a rate of about 150 to 200 feet per minute or less. The discharge conveyor can be run at maximum speed so as to convey 150 to 200 feet per minute. Further, the various elements can be sized of a width so as to preclude wrapping of material and for preventing side motion. For example, the width of the conveyor can be 24 inches for a rotor width of 30 inches and a discharge width of 34 inches.

It is also noted that the cutting assembly can be used with various types of material conveyors than that -described above. For example, pairs of rolls for 2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said rotor has a blade removably mounted thereon, said blade having said sharp edge thereon.

3. In a cutter assembly as set forth in claim 1 said rotor having a recess in the circumferential periphery thereof, a blade disposed in said recess and having said sharp cutting edge formed thereon in projecting relation to said recess, and means securing said blade to said rotor. 

1. In a cutter assembly a bed knife having a longitudinal elongated edge thereon disposed in a horizontal plane, a rotor mounted adjacent said bed knife, said rotor having at least one straight sharp cutting edge thereon for movement into a precision cut relation with said bed knife edge, said sharp cutting edge being angularly disposed with respect to said bed knife edge, and means mounting said bed knife in spaced adjustable relation to said rotor whereby the size of said precision cut relation can be adjusted, said means including a holder supporting said bed knife thereon, a first block mounting said holder thereon, means for fixedly securing said holder on said block, an adjustment block fixed to said first block, an adjusting screw abutting said holder and adjustably mounted in said adjustment block, and a screw slidably mounted in said adjusting screw and fixed to said holder.
 2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said rotor has a blade removably mounted thereon, said blade having said sharp edge thereon.
 3. In a cutter assembly as set forth in claim 1 said rotor having a recess in the circumferential periphery thereof, a blade dispOsed in said recess and having said sharp cutting edge formed thereon in projecting relation to said recess, and means securing said blade to said rotor. 